Horticultural Flourish

Blossoms symbolize spring and new beginnings. And in Vienna, spring bloomers also stand for friendship between different cultures, transform cemeteries into romantic hideaways and add a dash of Far Eastern charm to local neighborhoods.

Famous for their delicately fragrant pale-pink blossoms, Japanese cherry trees also stage quite the spectacle in Vienna each spring. Barely out of their protective brown cases, Sakura, the Japanese cherry blossoms, burst into flower for just a few days in April. The fleeting picture they paint in this time could scarcely be any more romantic. Even the falling petals create a sight to behold, with the tender grass shoots beneath the trees soon carpeted in a layer of delicate flowers. In Japan, watching this fascinating natural phenomenon – known as Hanami – unfold is a centuries-old tradition.

Group of trees on Danube Island, in the background the Kahlenberg

Vienna has its very own Sakura Park on the Danube Island: the idyllic cherry tree grove was a gift from Japan presented to Austria to mark its millennial anniversary in 1996. But the history of Japanese-Austrian cultural exchange goes back further than that: in 1873, Japan participated in a World’s Fair for the first time, which just happened to be held in Vienna. At that time, no expense was spared and no lengths were too great to go to – a Japanese garden was even created on the exhibition grounds from scratch. While virtually nothing of the exhibition site remains, relations between the two nations are thriving.

Danube Island: Blooming cherry trees, cyclists, skaters

Far Eastern Garden Design up Close

Nothing is left to chance in Japanese gardens; they stand for Far Eastern garden art in Vienna. Each plant is selected according to aesthetic considerations: in its perfect form, a Japanese garden creates a work of art to be savored with all the senses. This applies to things like the sound of gravel crunching underfoot, and not just the arrangement of the plants.

A trip to the Setagaya Park in the nineteenth district is like visiting the Land of the Rising Sun. Especially in April, when cherry blossom season transforms the 4,000-square-meter facility with its spring pools, pagodas and bamboo fences into a sea of white and pink. Incidentally, the name of the park comes from the nineteenth district of Döbling’s twin in Tokyo – the ward of Setagaya.

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Park landscape with a small, Japanese temple — Takasaki Park in the Kurpark Oberlaa, in the 10th district – © WienTourismus/Gregor Hofbauer

Setagaya Park, cherry blossom — Segataya Park in the 19th district – © Christa Fuchs / picturedesk.com

Karl Seidl Park: Blooming cherry trees in front of a pond — Karl Seidl Park in Floridsdorf – © Johann Pesl / picturedesk.com

Vienna Stadtpark: Cherry blossom — Cherry blossom in the Stadtpark – © Jeff Mangione / KURIER / picturedesk.com

Somewhat smaller but no less idyllic is the Takasaki Park at Kurpark Oberlaa. Laid out according to plans drawn up by the architect Kinsaku Nakane, the original garden – subsequently removed – was Japan’s contribution to the Vienna International Garden Show in 1974. However, the city of Takasaki lobbied to have it reinstated, and its efforts were rewarded in the 1990s.

Quiet Reflection and Spring Scents

St. Marx Cemetery provides an unexpected treat for the senses when it comes into bloom in the spring. Lilac grows here cheek by jowl in its full blooming splendor from April to May and gives the gravestones of the Biedermeier cemetery a flair that is simultaneously macabre and romantic, as is the Central Cemetery – true secret tips for peace-seekers.

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Vienna's Central Cemetery: View of the Feuerhalle crematorium and blooming cherry trees — Central Cemetery crematorium – © Thomas Exel / picturedesk.com

Trees, shrubs, with a statue of an angel between them — St. Marx Cemetery – © WienTourismus/JulianMullan

Vienna in Bloom

Taking a walk through Vienna’s Prater park is an absolute must in spring, when the 2,500 or so chestnut trees that line the four-and-a-half-kilometer-long Hauptallee simultaneously erupt into flower. Wild garlic, a well-known herald of spring, grows here in abundance and is a ubiquitous sight on the capital’s menus at this time. But as soon as the white flowers emerge, the plant is no longer edible and should simply be admired for its looks instead.

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Forest with wild garlic in bloom — Flowering wild garlic in the Prater – © Rainer Mirau / picturedesk.com

Shrub in bloom in front of the dome of the Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna — Flowering lilac with a view of the roof of the Naturhistorisches Museum Vienna – © HELMUT FOHRINGER / APA / picturedesk.com

Yellow flowers behind a row of benches in a park — Flowering Stadtpark – © WienTourismus/Julian Mullan

Stadtpark is also bursting with flowering trees, ornamental shrubs and flowers arranged in formal beds – here, their queen, the magnolia, sets the tone. Probably the most famous magnolia trees are located in front of the parks and gardens office in Stadtpark and in front of the Votivkirche church where they ring in the spring and provide a popular photo op, not just for visitors to the city.